The sun. [volume] (Morris, Stevens County, Minn.) 1882-1895, 1887-12-08
WOOL
lhe Removal or Reduction of Duties Thcro-
on Suggested, Supported by Exhaustive

The farmer or agriculturist who manu-.
| features nothing but who pays the increased
| price which the tariff imposes upon every
agricultural implement, upon all he wears
| and upon all he uses and owns, except the
increase of his flocks and herds and such
things as his husbandry produces from the
! soil, is invited to aid in maintaining
| present situation; and he is told that II &
duty on imported wool is necessary for those
| who have sheep to shear, in order that the
| price OF their wool may by increased. They,
| of course, are not reminded that the farmer
who has no sheep is by this scheme Obliged,
| in his purchases of clothing and WOODEN
| goods to pay a tribute to his fellow farmer
| as well as to the manufacturer and mer-
| chant; nor Is any mention made of the fact
| that the sheep owners themselves and their
| households must wear clothing ana
| use other articles manufactured from the
wool they sell at tariff prices, and thus
as consumers must return their shares
| of this increased price of the tradesman. L
| think it may be fairly assumed that large
| proportion of the sheep owned by the farm
ers throughout the country are found III
| small tlocks numbering from twenty-five TO
| fifty. The duty on the grade of imported
wool wl1ch these sheep yield Is ten cents
| each pound ii of the value of thirty cents or
less, and twelve cents ii of the value OF more
! than thirty cents. If the liberal es' innate OF
six pounds be allowed for each fleece, the
| duty thereon would be sixty or seventy-two
cents, and this may be taken as the utmost
| enhancement OF its price to the farmer by
reason of this duty. Eighteen dollars would
| thus represent The increased price of the
wool from twenty-five sheep and $50 that
| from the wool of fifty sheep, and at present
| values this addition would amount to about
| one-third of its price. Ii upon its sale the
| farmer receives this or a less tariff prott, the
| wool leaves his hands charged with precisely
| that sum, which in all its changes Will adj
| here to it until it reaches the consumer.
When manufactured into cloth and other
goods and material for use, its cost is not
| only increased to the extent of the
farmers tariff profit, but further
sum has been added for the prefit
| of the manufacturer under the operation of
| there tariff laws. In the meantime the day
| arrives when the farmer finds 1T necessary
| to purchase wooden goods and material to
| ciothe himself and family for the winter.
When he faces the tradesman for that pur-
| pose be discovers that lie is obliged not only
| TO return, in the way OF increased prices, his
| tariff profit on the wool he sold, and which
| then perhaps lies before him in manufact-
! ured form, but that he must add a consider
| able sum thereto to meet a further increase
| in cost caused by a tariff duty on the manu-
| facture. Thus in the end he is aroused to
the fact that he has paid upon moderate
purchase as a result of the tariff scheme,
which, when he sold his wool, seemed SO
| profitable,
| AN INCREASE IN PRICE
| more than sufficient to sweep away all the
| tariff profit he received upon the wool he
| produced and sold When the number of
| farmers engaged in wool raising is compared
| with all the farmers in the country, and the
| small proportion they bear to our popula-
| ton is considcred; when it is made apparent
| That, IN the case OF q large part OF those who
| own sheep, the benefit of the present tariff
| on wool is il.usory, and, above all, when it
must be conceded that the increase or
| the cost of living caused by such
tariff becomes a burden upon those
with moderate means and the poor, the
| employed ana unemployed, the sick and
| well. and the young and old, and that iG con-
| stitutes tax which, with relentless grasp,
| is fastened upon the clothing of every man,
woman and child in the land, reasons are
| suggested why the removal or reduction of
| this duty should be included III revision of
our tariff laws. In speaking of the Increased
cost to the consumer of our home manufact-
| ures, resulting from duty laid upon i'm
| ported articles of the same description, the
| fact is not overlooked that competition
| among our domestic producers sometimes
| has the effect of keeping the price of their
| products below the highest limit allowed by
| such duty But it is notorious that this COM
| petition is too often strangled by combna-
| tons quite prevalent at this time, and fire.
| quentiy called trusts, which have for their
| object the regulation of the supply and price
| of commodities made and sold by members
of the combination The people can barely
| hope for any consideration in the operation
|
| the absence of such combinations a healthy
and free competition reduces the price of
| any particular dutlabie article of home pro-
| duction, below the limit which it might 9TH
| erwise reach under our tariff laws, and if,
| with such reduced price, its manufacture
continue to thrive, it is entirely evident
| that one thing has been discovered which
| should be carefully scrutinzed in an effort
| to reduce taxation. The necessity of COM
bination to maintain the price of any COM
| y,,n1 tfy RI ha fori fr1rn hos
| that some one is willing to accept lower
| prices for such commodity, and that such
| prices are remunerative; and lower prices
| produced by competition prove the same
| thing Thus where either of these condi-
| tions exist a case would seem to be pre-
| sented for an easy reduction of taxation. The
| considerations which have been presented
| touching our tariff laws are intended only to
| enforce an earnest recommendation that the
surplus revenue of the government be pre-
| vented by the
| REDUCTION OF OUR CUSTOMS DUTIES.
| and, ut the same time, to emphasize q sug-
gestion that in accomplishing this purpose
we may discharge q double duty to our peo-
| pie by granting to them measure of relief
| from tariff taxation in quarters where it is
most needed and from sources where it can
| be most fairly and Justly accorded. Nor can
the presentation made of such consider
| atons he, with any degree of fairness, re-
| garded as evidence of unfriendliness toward
| our manufacturing interests, or of any lack
| of appreciation of their value and i'm
| portance. These interests constitute lead
| ing and most substantial element OF our ma
| tionaI greatness and furnish the proud proof
| of our countrys progress. But if in the
| emergency that presses upon us our manu-
| facturers are are asked to surrender some
| thing for the public good and to avert dis
| aster, their patriotism, as well as a grateful
| recognition of advantages already afforded,
should lead them to willing cooperation
No demand is made that they shall forego all
! the benefits of the governmental regard:
but they cannot fail to be admonished of
| their duty, well as their enlightened self
| interest and safety, when they are reminded
of the fact that financial panic and collapse,
| to which the present condition tends, afford
| no greater shelter or protection to our manu-
facturers than our other important enter
| prlses Opportunity for safe, careful, and
| deliberate reform is now offered; and none
| of us should be unmindful of time when
an abused and irritated people, needless of
those who have resisted timely and reason
| able relief, may insist upon radical and
sweeping rectification of their wrongs
The difficulty attending wise and
| fair revision OF our tariff laws is
not under estimated 1t will re-
quire on the part of the congress great labor
and care, and especially broad and national
contemplation of the subject, and patriotic
| disregard of such local and selfish claims as
are unreasonable and regardless of the well
|
enr laws more than four thousand articles
are subject to duty Many of these do not
in any way compare with our own manu-
features, and many are hardly worth atten-
tion subjects of revenue. considerable
reduction can be made in the aggregate by
ADDING THEM TO THE FREE LIST.
| The taxation of luXuries presents no feat
ures of hardship; but the necessaries Of life
used and consumed by all people. the duty
upon which adds to the cost of living in
every home. should be greatly cheapened.
| The radical reduction of the duties imposed
upon raw material used in manufactures, or
it's free importation, is, of course. an i'm
portant factor in any effort to reduce the
| price of these necessaries 1T would not only
relieve them from the increased cost caused
| by the tariff on such material, but the man
ufactured product being thus cheapened that
part OF the tariff now laid upon such product
| as compensation to our manufacturers for
the present price of raw material could
be accordingly modified Such reduc-
ton, or free Importation, would serve
| boSi6a 1arrn1v ha 10